Diabetes disrupts how the body uses glucose, either due to insufficient insulin production or ineffective insulin use. This leads to high blood sugar levels, which, if unaddressed, can cause serious health issues.
Traditional diabetes care relies on periodic in-person visits, creating gaps in monitoring. Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) fills these gaps by continuously tracking key health metrics like blood glucose. This real-time data helps healthcare providers make timely adjustments, leading to more personalized and effective diabetes management.
Diabetes by the Numbers
- In 2021, an estimated 38.4 million people in the US, or 11.6% of the population, had diabetes. Out of these, 29.7 million people were diagnosed, while 8.7 million remained undiagnosed.
- Among the diagnosed cases, 352,000 were children and adolescents under 20 years old. The percentage of adults with diabetes increases with age, reaching 29.2% among those aged 65 years or older.
- The most common age group for diabetes is 45 to 64 years old, followed by 65 years and older.
- In 2021, there were an estimated 1.2 million new cases of diabetes diagnosed among adults aged 18 years or older, a rate of 5.9 per 1,000 people.
- An estimated 97.6 million adults aged 18 years or older had prediabetes in 2021. This represents 38.0% of all US adults.
- The rates of diagnosed diabetes in American adults by race/ethnic background are 13.6% of American Indians/Alaskan Native, 12.1% of non-Hispanic Black, 11.7% of Hispanic, 9.1% of Asian American, 6.9% of non-Hispanic White.
(Sources: CDC, American Diabetes Association)